Mobile TV Handsets and Semiconductors

Broadcast Video Devices, Chipsets, BOM Analysis, and Key Market Drivers

This study details the market forces driving television into the handset, the regional trials and deployments, the technology choices, and the chipsets, hardware, and software required to implement this disruptive technology. The report examines some industry objections to mobile TV, and offers rebuttals and a differing perspective. It discusses the three ways in which TV can be brought to the handset—unicast, multicast, and broadcast—and assesses the shortcomings of the unicast and multicast methods. The various contenders for broadcast TV in the mobile phone, such as T-DMB, DVB-H, E-DAB, MediaFLO and others, are identified, and the characteristics, merits and demerits of each are explained.

Frequency band allocations and regulatory concerns worldwide are discussed. The report describes trials and deployments in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America, and lists the broadcast TV handsets released by leading vendors such as LG Electronics, Samsung, and Nokia. The study concludes with detailed analysis of the chipsets and components required to enable broadcast TV in the mobile phone, and illuminates their architecture, their power consumption and underlying process technologies. Chipset vendors’ roadmaps are discussed, along with software and TV application drivers.

What Questions Does This Report Answer?

  • How will television in the cellphone develop over the next five years?
  • What key market enablers allowed TV to come into the handset?
  • How can television be transmitted to a cellular handset?
  • What are the differences between unicast, multicast, and broadcast?
  • What are some current industry objections to cellular TV, and is there any validity to them?
  • What broadcast methods are being deployed globally?
  • What frequency bands are allocated to broadcast TV globally, and what are the merits and demerits of each band?
  • How many channels of TV content can be sent on a single radio frequency channel?
  • What broadcast TV trials and deployments are taking place around the world?
  • What kinds of content can we expect to see in the handset?
  • What broadcast TV handsets are available, and what standards do they support?
  • What kinds of chipset architecture are being offered to enable broadcast TV?
  • What additional components are required for broadcast TV in a mobile phone?
  • Which process technologies are used for the RF section and which for the baseband?
  • What is the power consumption of different vendors’ solutions?
  • Is there a need for chipsets that support multiple standards, and are any vendors offering such a solution?
  • Is there a need for chipsets that support multiple bands, and are any vendors offering such a solution?
  • What are the software requirements to support mobile TV?
  • Who are the semiconductor vendors in the broadcast TV space, and what are their value propositions?
  • What are the ASPs for the RF tuner, the baseband, and the additional BOM, and what price trajectory will they follow to 2011?
  • What penetration rates and TAMs are expected for broadcast TV in handsets for the next five years?

Who Needs This Report?

  • IC and Semiconductor Vendors
  • Cellphone Firmware, Software, and Applications Vendors
  • Cellular Handset Manufacturers
  • Cellular Infrastructure Vendors
  • Cellular and Broadcast Operators